No more chains, I've been set free, no more fighting battles You've won for me, now in Christ, I stand complete - All You Ever Wanted, Casting Crowns

Chapter Twenty Four

Return To The Grid

"Now, this is just going to be a test run," Bruce explained as they set the device up. It was similar to the one in Flynn's arcade. Only it had a sleeker design to it. Mira wondered if Tony and Bruce had tinkered with it when the device was delivered. "You'll be in there for about an hour before we pull you out."

"So that's about a petrocycle in our time," Mira replied before glancing at Beck.

"I'd love to know how time works so differently on the Grid," Tony muttered. "Seems to work on a different schedule compared to the User world."

Bruce typed in a code before stepping away from the 'Digitizer'. That was what Sam had called it, and the name sort of stuck. Mira had to admit that it was a fitting name.

"I've set the coordinates to Argon City," Bruce explained. "At least I hope that's where I've set it."

Mira didn't miss the look of worry in Beck's eyes. The last time they had left was when Clu had revealed his identity to everyone. Mara might be willing to forgive Beck for lying to her, but the other mechanics... Mira wasn't too sure.

"We'll be right beside you." At this point Mira didn't bother arguing with Clint or Natasha. They had already discussed how this would go with Tony and Bruce. With Steve watching them closely, things shouldn't go wrong.

Besides, it would be nice to have some backup. Even if they were completely unprepared for the Grid.

"All right, step in front of the Digitizer and say cheese." Mira rolled her eyes when Tony laughed at his own joke. "Starting in 3... 2... 1-"

Everything happened so fast, they didn't have time to react. This was about to get interesting.

. . .

It felt like hours had passed before they finally reached the Grid. Mira's eyes had closed at the last second, and when she finally opened them, she was thankful she had. The Outlands stretched before them, not Argon City. But Mira could see the faint, familiar lights of Argon glowing in the distance.

"That... was weird," Clint muttered after nearly stumbling forward.

To the left lay more desert, and to the right was the mountain that held Tron's safehouse. Mira glanced at Beck and noticed that his suit and disk was back. She was more than thankful to notice that their light cycle batons were back as well.

"We're home," Beck whispered.

"It feels good to be back." Truthfully Mira had missed the Grid more than anything else. It really did feel good to be back. She glanced back at Clint and Natasha and smirked. It looked like they were trying to take in everything at once. "I think we should check out the safehouse first," she added after glancing back at the mountain.

What had happened to Tron after they left? According to Quorra he had crashed into the Sea of Simulation. But at that time he had been repurposed. Mira felt a shiver run down her arms as she wondered whether or not he managed to shake off Clu's influence.

"Where's that?" Natasha asked.

"Inside the mountain," Beck replied before grabbing his baton. "It's a good place to start." Moments later and the light cycle appeared, startling both agents. Mira tried not to laugh when she noticed their expressions.

"Alright, I'll admit those are cool looking." Clint eyed the light cycle curiously as Beck got on.

"We'll have to ride in pairs," Mira explained after rezzing her own light cycle. The look Beck shot her was priceless. She knew that he was trying to avoid both Clint and Natasha after everything that had happened. But she doubted that even with their training, they could keep up with light cycles.

Natasha sat behind Mira as she sped forward, ignoring the glare Beck shot her as Clint sat beside him. Beck easily caught up with her as they made their way to the safehouse. The sky still had it's dark and ominous look to it, but it didn't seem nearly as threatening now. In fact, Mira thought she saw what looked like stars glowing above.

Maybe Sam managed to give the Grid a little more light, she thought.

As they got closer to the safehouse, she noticed that there were lights shining through the windows. Hope flared within her chest until they reached the garage. Mira wasted no time in following Beck after getting off of their light cycles.

"What is this place?" Clint demanded after reaching them.

"This is where Tron lived," Beck explained. He typed in the code as the alarm appeared in front of them. Mira braced herself as the door slid open.

Mira raised an eyebrow when they stepped into the garage. The batons and weapons Tron had kept were still in place. Clearly Clu had never bothered scoping out the safehouse after all. But the room itself seemed strangely empty.

She closed her eyes and took in the sounds around her. There was an unsteady breathing sound, and something else that sent shivers down her back. The sound of pixels falling onto the cold floor. Someone was definitely living here. But it sounded as if they were in severe pain.

"They're upstairs, whoever they are," she murmured.

Carefully, she led the way towards the stairs. The safehouse had three floors from what she remembered. But it sounded like whoever was up there couldn't even move.

What they saw next made Mira's stomach churn. An all-too familiar program was laying on the floor, clenching his chest as if he was struggling to breathe. She was almost thankful that the helmet concealed his face.

The program was struggling to stand after realizing that he wasn't alone. Mira bit the bottom of her lip when she noticed the pixels covering the floor. If they didn't work fast, he was going to derezz. She glanced at Beck, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"Take it easy," he finally muttered after leaning down to help the program. Mira glanced over her shoulder, hoping Natasha and Clint didn't make any sudden movements. The program was already in enough pain, he didn't need to react to their sudden appearance. "Think you can heal him?" Beck looked up at her, eyes dark with anxiety.

"I've never seen injuries like this one," she admitted warily. "But let me have a look." She approached the program cautiously. Instinctively he swatted her hand away as she reached for his disk. "It's okay, I need to see your disk," she added in a whisper.

The program let out a low growl. Mira held her breath in disbelief. He sounded almost exactly like Rinzler. After staring at her for a few nanocycles, he finally gave in. She gently grasped his disk and pulled out the codes that could heal his injuries.

"How did you do that?" Natasha asked. It was difficult sifting through all of the security patterns on the disk. Clu must have known that something like this would happen.

"All programs and Users are capable of finding the codes that heal one's injuries," she explained after examining the complex codes.

"I've never seen codes like that before," Beck murmured.

Mira finally found the code that was causing the injuries. A fail-safe. Similar to the one Dyson had used on Tron when Clu took over. She pulled out the code and replaced it with a new one, hoping that his system would accept it.

"Tell me again how that's possible." Mira smirked when she noticed Clint's impressed expression. After what felt like cycles, his coding was finally repaired. His system accepted the change without question. Now it was only a matter of time before he returned to his normal self.

"So who exactly is he?" Natasha's question caught both Mira and Beck by surprise. They had gotten so used to the few circuits on his suit, that they didn't even need to ask.

"Tron," Mira replied.

Before they had time to react, their time on the Grid came to an end. Mira flinched when they were brought back to the User world. Now they really did have a lot to explain.

AN: So yep, that all just happened. More shall be explained as to how he even made his way to the safehouse in the next installment (later on of course), and... yeah. Thanks to 2theSky and PrincessKai317 for your reviews! You guys are awesome! :D

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